From predictive models to profitability in the web-handling industry

This paper attempts to put some of the work being done by researchers in the web-handling field, including some of the papers to be presented at this conference, into a broader business context. Various ways of utilizing predictive models are discussed, ranging from troubleshooting to robust product-process design. A future-state vision for a highly effective web-handling predictive model is defined. An example consisting of the application of an analytical wound-roll stress model in conjunction with statistical methods to the robust design of a roll-winding process is described to illustrate the potential value of such an approach

On the effect of width direction thickness variations in wound rolls

A first order model has been developed, which predicts the widthwise variability in wound roll diameter and stresses. This model has been verified experimentally on wound rolls of film and qualitative agreement between the predicted and measured results was found. The theoretical model and experimental techniques used in its verification are described

Variable and constant errors of perceived angle size

Experiments were carried out to characterise the perception of angles in terms of the acuity and constant error of comparisons of acute angle sizes. Both measures, determined by the forced choice method of constant stimululi, were found to increase linearly with stimulus angle size. Constant errors varied systematically with stimulus orientation, following the oblique-effect (Apelle, 1971), while acuities did not. The differential expansion of acute angles was found to decrease with increased stimulus duration, stabilising after about 0.5 second. Despite the previous success of the hypothesis that perceptual expansion of acute angles is an orientation contrast effect due to lateral inhibitory interactions between channels selectively responsive to different orientations, the present observations proved- inconsistent with predictions derived from this hypothesis concerning both acuities and constant errors, and temporal variation of these measures. Results of adaptation and masking experiments also failed to show meridional anisotropies of the selectivities of orientation channels, which were considered necessary assumptions for the explanation of meridional variation of perceived angular extent by the lateral inhibition hypothesis. The discrepancy between the present results and previous observations which were consistent with the orientation contrast hypothesis was attributed to the fact that in the majority of previous studies perceived orientation was measured, not perceived angular extent. The present data, therefore, do not contradict the orientation contrast model, but suggest that this contrast is not a sufficient explanation of the misperception of angular extent. As an alternatives, it was proposed that variation of perceived angular extent results from meridional anaisotropies in the scaling of an orientation metric derived from the integration of outputs from orientation selective channels

The relation between the sociosexuality and motifs/reasons for having sex of the young, educated women from the big cities in Germany, Iran and Poland and the sexual norms of their cultures of origin.

Goals and themes: The ambition of this research is to distinguish to which extent a culture can determine women’s sociosexuality and their motifs/reasons to have sex. The research focuses on both cultural factors, which especially strongly inhibit/free sexualities and on the psychological consequences of the cultural impacts. The main goal is to find cross-cultural differences in sociosexuality and motifs/reasons to have sex and analyze them in the broad context of participants’ personal cultural experiences, stories and philosophies.Research Participants: 35 German, 62 Iranian and 160 Polish women in the age 20-40, well-educated, living in big cities, with a good command of English.Methodology: The Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory SOI-R by Lars Penke (2011), the Why Have Sex YSEX? questionnaire by Buss and Meston (2007) modified by the researcher to better address the purposes of this study and a series of open questions investigating the role of a culture asked in the face-to-face interviews or online.Results: The research shows significant cross-cultural differences in general sociosexuality as well as in its all three facets (Attitude, Behavior, Desire). When sociosexuality is understood holistically, German women show significantly higher unrestriction than Polish and Iranian women; while Polish are more unrestricted than Iranian. The same relation is found for the Attitude and Behavior facets. In the Desire facet Polish and German women show higher unrestriction than Iranians. The significant cross-cultural differences are also detected in motifs and reasons for having sex. The most relevant are found in the dimension Desire&Pleasure. German and Polish women have sex because of Desire&Pleasure significantly more often than Iranian women. The same cross-national relation is found for the exemplary items of the dimension: ‘I have had sex in the past, because I was sexually aroused and wanted a release’; ‘…because I wanted to achieve orgasm’; ‘…because the place was pretty/cool/romantic and I wanted to have sex exactly there’; ‘…because sex is always fun’. Furthermore, Polish women have sex because of motifs grouped in the dimension Love significantly more often than German women (it is also vivid in the exemplary item ‘to express love’). Moreover, Polish women have sex to achieve Body and Psyche Well-Being significantly more often than German and Iranian women (the relation stays true for the exemplary items: ‘I have had sex in the past, because I wanted to burn calories’ and ‘…because I wanted to release anxiety/stress’).The research presents vividly not only cross-national differences, but also relations between the dimensions of motifs and reasons. Looking globally, Love and Pleasure&Desire are the most frequent reasons why women have sex while Materialism doesn’t present any relevance. For Polish and Iranian women the dimension Love contains the most important motifs, the second is Pleasure&Desire. German women endorse Love equally with Pleasure&Desire. The findings harmonize with the participants’ statements and stories. Generally, German women present their culture sexually permissive and look at having sex from the perspective of ego and pleasure. Polish and Iranian women see their cultures of origin sexually inhibiting and conservative. All the Iranian participants and many of the Polish report psychological outcomes of cultural pressures disturbing their well-beings. These are mainly fear, shame, pang of conscience, sexual coldness, deteriorated: pleasure, enjoyment and desire. Though in Poland, the state democracy, program pluralism, open access to media, Internet, science or travelling create a freedom to act against the common (mainly traditional and Catholic) ideology. The methodological achievement of the research is the positive evaluation of the cross-cultural applicability of the researcher’s modified Why Have Sex YSEX?Questionnaire and creation of a new taxonomy of motifs and reasons for sexGoals and themes: The ambition of this research is to distinguish to which extent a culture can determine women’s sociosexuality and their motifs/reasons to have sex. The research focuses on both cultural factors, which especially strongly inhibit/free sexualities and on the psychological consequences of the cultural impacts. The main goal is to find cross-cultural differences in sociosexuality and motifs/reasons to have sex and analyze them in the broad context of participants’ personal cultural experiences, stories and philosophies.Research Participants: 35 German, 62 Iranian and 160 Polish women in the age 20-40, well-educated, living in big cities, with a good command of English.Methodology: The Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory SOI-R by Lars Penke (2011), the Why Have Sex YSEX? questionnaire by Buss and Meston (2007) modified by the researcher to better address the purposes of this study and a series of open questions investigating the role of a culture asked in the face-to-face interviews or online.Results: The research shows significant cross-cultural differences in general sociosexuality as well as in its all three facets (Attitude, Behavior, Desire). When sociosexuality is understood holistically, German women show significantly higher unrestriction than Polish and Iranian women; while Polish are more unrestricted than Iranian. The same relation is found for the Attitude and Behavior facets. In the Desire facet Polish and German women show higher unrestriction than Iranians. The significant cross-cultural differences are also detected in motifs and reasons for having sex. The most relevant are found in the dimension Desire&Pleasure. German and Polish women have sex because of Desire&Pleasure significantly more often than Iranian women. The same cross-national relation is found for the exemplary items of the dimension: ‘I have had sex in the past, because I was sexually aroused and wanted a release’; ‘…because I wanted to achieve orgasm’; ‘…because the place was pretty/cool/romantic and I wanted to have sex exactly there’; ‘…because sex is always fun’. Furthermore, Polish women have sex because of motifs grouped in the dimension Love significantly more often than German women (it is also vivid in the exemplary item ‘to express love’). Moreover, Polish women have sex to achieve Body and Psyche Well-Being significantly more often than German and Iranian women (the relation stays true for the exemplary items: ‘I have had sex in the past, because I wanted to burn calories’ and ‘…because I wanted to release anxiety/stress’).The research presents vividly not only cross-national differences, but also relations between the dimensions of motifs and reasons. Looking globally, Love and Pleasure&Desire are the most frequent reasons why women have sex while Materialism doesn’t present any relevance. For Polish and Iranian women the dimension Love contains the most important motifs, the second is Pleasure&Desire. German women endorse Love equally with Pleasure&Desire. The findings harmonize with the participants’ statements and stories. Generally, German women present their culture sexually permissive and look at having sex from the perspective of ego and pleasure. Polish and Iranian women see their cultures of origin sexually inhibiting and conservative. All the Iranian participants and many of the Polish report psychological outcomes of cultural pressures disturbing their well-beings. These are mainly fear, shame, pang of conscience, sexual coldness, deteriorated: pleasure, enjoyment and desire. Though in Poland, the state democracy, program pluralism, open access to media, Internet, science or travelling create a freedom to act against the common (mainly traditional and Catholic) ideology. The methodological achievement of the research is the positive evaluation of the cross-cultural applicability of the researcher’s modified Why Have Sex YSEX?Questionnaire and creation of a new taxonomy of motifs and reasons for se

Analiza numeryczna wpływu poziomu morza na przebieg wezbrań w nadmorskich ciekach powierzchniowych na przykładzie potoku Strzyża w Gdańsku

W dzisiejszych czasach coraz większym problemem stają się podtopienia na terenach zurbanizowanych. Biorąc to pod uwagę, należy większą wagę przyłożyć do prawidłowego obliczania przepustowości koryta. Jednym z czynników wpływających na nie są warunki na odpływie. W przypadku potoków nadmorskich zależą one ściśle od poziomu morza. W pracy podjęto próbę wyznaczenia wpływu poziomu morza na przebieg wezbrań w nadmorskich ciekach powierzchniowych. W tym celu przeprowadzono analizę numeryczną przepływu wody w potoku Strzyża w Gdańsku, którego odbiornikiem jest Martwa Wisła, której poziom wody jest jednakowy z poziomem morza. Obliczenia wyko- nano na modelu numerycznym opartym na układzie równań de Saint-Venanta w postaci za- chowawczej, rozwiązanego metodą różnic skończonych (schemat McCormacka). Analizę przeprowadzono dla dwóch fal wezbraniowych o prawdopodobieństwie przekroczenia 1% i 10% oraz dla sytuacji, gdy w potoku występuje jednostajny przepływ średni. Dla każdego wariantu przyjęto dwa współczynniki szorstkości Manninga: 0,04 oraz 0,08. Otrzymane wyniki przedstawiono w postaci profili maksymalnych poziomów wody w potoku oraz zestawienia zasięgów wpływu poziomu morza na poziom wody w cieku. Podsumowując wykonane obliczenia, wykazano, że oddziaływanie morza zależy bezpośrednio od poziomu wody w potoku. Zdecydowanie większy wpływ na przebieg wezbrania mają przyjęte do obliczeń wartości przepływu. Stanowi to kluczową informację przy określaniu poziomu istotności analizowanego problemu. Praca ta może być wstępem do bardziej szczegółowe - go rozpoznania zjawiska

Hydraulic potential of the Lower Vistula (Poland)

The Vistula is the largest river in Poland. Lower Vistula (part of the river discussed in this paper) is almost four hundred kilometers long river section extending from the tributary Narew to the outflow to the Baltic Sea. In the 17th century the Vistula was the most navigable river in Europe. After partitioning of Poland the Vistula lost its significance. Now the Lower Vistula should provide a navigation connection to the Europe forming water routes E70 and E40. However it does not meet the criteria required for the international waterways. Moreover, the river has a quite large hydro-energy potential. There have been many plans for the development of the Lower Vistula River so far. Unfortunately none of them has been implemented. In this paper, the authors would like to present their own arguments to reactivate the Lower Vistula Cascade (LVC) project. In order to analyse the LVC idea and Lower Vistula hydraulic potential, a numerical hydraulic model of the Lower Vistula was developed at the Department of Hydraulic Engineering of Gdansk University of Technology. Various aspects of the LVC concept, such a potential inland waterways, hydropower, flood control and water retention, are discussed in the article